Religion in Traditional China | Royal Asiatic Society

When and Where

13/05/20157:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Delegation of the European Union No.15 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, SanlitunBeijingChina(get map)

Event Details

As a point of departure, the Royal Asiatic Society Beijing will screen the incisive BBC documentary, “Taoism: A Question of Balance”. A question and answer period will follow the documentary for audience discussion of the traditional beliefs and practices depicted and more recent 21st century developments in China’s religious landscape.

Religion in China often confounds western notions of belief and practice. Recent opinion polls suggest that Chinese are the most unreligious people in the world–and yet temples, churches and mosques continue to be built at a record pace. Adding to the confusion is how Chinese seem able to subscribe to radically different traditions as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. These questions reveal how Chinese notions of religiosity differ from western preconceptions.

As a point of departure, the Royal Asiatic Society Beijing will screen the incisive BBC documentary, “Taoism: A Question of Balance”. Filmed in the late 1970’s as part of the groundbreaking program, The Long Search, this video is remarkable for its sophisticated examination of traditional religious life in Taiwan and for its use of an anthropological approach pioneering for its time. Crucially, the film captures a variety of practices and devotion that once permeated the daily lives of all Chinese. Although now disappearing, those ideas still govern how many Chinese people practice their faith. A question and answer period will follow the documentary for audience discussion of the traditional beliefs and practices depicted and more recent 21st century developments in China’s religious landscape.
Co-hosting the event are Ian Johnson, a regular contributor for the New York Review of Books, and Neil Schmid, a scholar of Chinese Religions and Dunhuang Studies.